They were each fined $10,000 and are prohibited for the next five years from being within three metres of the Mississagi River in the Town of Blind River.

Zehovoy also pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a conservation officer and was fined $750.

The court heard that on September 22, 2013, Blind River District conservation officers stopped three anglers in a vehicle as they were travelling back to Toronto.

Zehovoy claimed they were transporting only salmon.

Upon inspecting the vehicle, conservation officers located a box containing 27 pounds of sturgeon eggs and four pounds of sturgeon meat.

Further investigation revealed that Zehovoy and Kazatchkov had been fishing in Blind River the previous weekend.

They stayed with a Blind River resident and expressed an interest in getting sturgeon eggs, knowing it was illegal to possess them.

Zehovoy and Kazatchkov arranged to meet the individual on September 22, at which time they received the eggs and meat.

Justice of the Peace Darlene Hayden heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice, Blind River, on March 26, 2014.

The lake sturgeon population in the Great Lakes-Upper St. Lawrence River is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. It is illegal to possess plants or animals listed as threatened under the act.

To report a natural resource violation, call 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667) toll-free any time or contact your ministry office during regular business hours.

You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Excellent. They should have had their vehicle and all its contents confiscated as well. Killing endangered species willfully should be met with harsh fines. These people make me sick.

Too bad the Government won’t address the other people that continue to harvest sturgeon under the guise “they are exercising their hunting and fishing rights”. Species are declared endangered for a reason. Nobody should harvest them regardless of whether or not they think they are entitled to. They should care enough to abstain so that wildlife/fish are preserved so that there is a heritage for the next generations.

Certainly sends a strong message to out of town angler, good job. What I'd really like to see happen though is that the residents in Blind River area, who sold the illegal 27 POUNDS of Sturgeon eggs and 4 POUNDS of Sturgeon meat BUSTED. I wonder how much money was made by the Poachers? Look forward to hearing the rest of this story!

“…What I'd really like to see happen though is that the residents in Blind River area, who sold the illegal 27 POUNDS of Sturgeon eggs and 4 POUNDS of Sturgeon meat BUSTED…”

I can almost guarantee you that they are untouchable under the guise “they are exercising their hunting and fishing rights”. I can not comment to the exact group of people because they will close down the comment section. They are the same people who shoot protected Elk and shoot moose out of season too.

Every spring they harvest sturgeon while they spawn. Simple logic tells you that if you harvest a fish before they spawn there will be no fingerling fish to replenish the river. Sturgeons take decades to mature and spawn (unlike other species).

Well brietsy there are a lot of people in the north that make their living selling natural resources, often to out of towners. Maybe they're selling tags for bear or moose, maybe they're logging or mining and selling it to the US, etc. What say ye to all of them?

Some people might say that we live in what was traditionally a native community and we're actually the out of towners infringing on their rights and not the other way around.

You are correct! Race should have nothing to do with it! Nobody of any group or ethnic background should harvest a species that is currently endangered!

I am not racist. I don't condone the needless extinction of wildlife/fish because of special interest groups. Regardless of who or what caused the endangered wildlife/fish, everyone has a moral obligation to do everything in their power to stop it's decline. If that means a moratorium on fishing/hunting of that resource, than all must abide.

Exhibit A - "Too bad the Government won’t address the other people that continue to harvest sturgeon under the guise “they are exercising their hunting and fishing rights”.

Exhibit B - "can almost guarantee you that they are untouchable under the guise “they are exercising their hunting and fishing rights”. I can not comment to the exact group of people because they will close down the comment section"

he is talking about natives. and yes they do take what they want, when they want it and how they want to take it, it was written in the treaty act, by your government. as a native, I believe that we should be punished and charged in situations like these, those are resources that will never be replenished, and taking advantage of our rights to make a few dollars is idiotic and childish. if it can be proven, whomever supplied the eggs to people who cannot otherwise get them, should be punished just as severe!